Healthcare professionals who recognize that personal and professional development is a lifelong process are more likely to succeed and be happy in the process.
This MGMA Member Spotlight podcast episode features longtime MGMA contributor Dr. Dea Robinson, PhD, MA, FACMPE, CPC. Robinson is currently Director of Hospital Medicine Programs for Denver-based CommonSpirit Health, and has also served as Assistant Chair of the Health Professions Department at Denver’s Metropolitan State University.
With a background in research and administration, Robinson says she understands how mentorship and personal connections can help build better leaders.
“I’m at a time in my career where I can have a little reflection and look back, and I feel like one of the most important roles I have right now is to help some of the younger physician leaders find their way,” she says. “Hospital medicine is a difficult specialty because there’s no walls to it and there’s so much complexity and accountability.”
Learning from Each Step of Your Career
Robinson recalls starting her healthcare journey in a unique way. A 19, while studying marketing and later getting a teaching degree, she used her typing skills to land an entry-level job as a department transcriber at the University of Arizona’s cancer center, later working for the director of cancer biology.
She later worked as the sole staffer for a private practice, when an article in the New England Journal of Medicine about the future of hospitalists inspired her physician and helped push Robinson in yet another direction.
“This was my third tax ID and I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, not another one, please … we have to start from scratch, again,’” she says. “But we did, and I learned from the ground up how a new specialty is grown, created and cultivated, and how to support the clinical side.”
Understanding What Engagement Really Means
After years as a consultant and manager, Robinson decided to pursue a PhD in Organizational Learning Performance and Change from Colorado State University, where she focused on burnout among hospital physicians and their engagement in social support, especially from leadership.
“Burnout starts when people start losing trust and faith in their leader,” she highlights. “It’s not the work. It’s how your leader is going to help you finish your work, or work on the workflow.”
Robinson says her studies also suggested that engagement has different interpretations for various members of the healthcare workforce, and often can’t be quantified in simple scores. She found many physicians who were both deeply engaged and teetering on the edge of burnout at the same time, but were still willing to come in at 2 a.m. to treat legacy patients.
For the non-clinical community, Robinson says engagement can come from effective collaboration with their dyad, that strong connection between non-physician administrative leader and physician leadership.
“For me, I think the moment of high engagement are times when I’m working through problems with that team, and come up with solutions or ideas. That’s what I still love about what I do.”
The Value of the Personal Connection
Beyond professional engagement, Robinson says she also continues to focus on maintaining personal connections, especially in the post-COVID workplace. She says that in some organizations, that may also require re-examining the value of remote work.
“We have to be very intentional without making it seem like a big deal. So in my current role, we do our best to bring people together at least four times a year. For those employees who think that they should be remote and they’re somehow connected to that continuum of care, that makes it really difficult.
Robinson emphasizes that leaders should be more critical about hiring into healthcare while helping candidates understand they are “part of a team, not a virtual team.”
And the Importance of Mentorships
With nearly four decades of educational and professional experience, Robinson highlights the importance of mentors to personal development, especially at the early stages of an administrative career.
“Younger, newer early careerists have to appreciate the value of a mentor. They can give you this really incredible open feedback that you might not get the higher you get in an organization. As I remind students, gobble up all the feedback you can right now, because it’s the best free advice.”
Robinson hopes younger professionals can also keep an open mind as they experience the ups and downs of work in healthcare, as many long-term benefits remain on the horizon.
“Use your workplace as your laboratory. There’s so much that you don’t know. I’ve always suggested to students to look at all the symptoms in their organization, and what might not be going well. A lot of times the symptom is really not the root problem, it’s just an outcome.”
Key Takeaways:
- Diverse skills and backgrounds can lead to successful healthcare leadership
- Leadership relationships are critical in managing physician burnout and engagement
- Mentorship and professional networking are essential for career growth
- Intentional human connections matter more than technology in healthcare
- Cultural humility and understanding root problems drive organizational success
- Collaborative leadership between clinical and administrative teams creates stronger healthcare environments
Resources:
- Connect with Dr. Dea Robinson on LinkedIn
- Receive expert guidance through the MGMA Mentor Program
- Dr. Dea Robinson's co-authored AJM study: The 5 Rs of Cultural Humility
Additional Resources:
Email us at dwilliams@mgma.com if you would like to appear on an episode. If you have a question about your practice that you would like us to answer, send an email to advisor@mgma.com. Don't forget to subscribe to our network wherever you get your podcasts.
